Schwarzenegger Scores Big, Leaves Rival Behind

The biggest winner to emerge from this year’s legislative session? No contest: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The biggest loser? It naturally follows: The governor’s reelection challenger, Treasurer Phil Angelides.

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and Senate leader Don Perata (D-Oakland) also were significant winners.

The Legislature as a whole was a model of productivity. The oft-used adjective “dysfunctional” didn’t fit this year.

Minority Republicans, however, frequently were losers, despite -- and often because of -- their GOP governor.

It was fascinating -- brutal if you’re a committed Democrat -- to watch Schwarzenegger constantly pull Angelides’ campaign planks out from under him.

At his core, Angelides is an “invest-in-the-future” crusader, a disciple of the “great builder,” Gov. Pat Brown. So Schwarzenegger got the Legislature to place a historic public works bond package on the November ballot, robbing his rival of the infrastructure issue.

Angelides promised to fully fund schools. So Schwarzenegger fully funded them.

The governor’s previous unproductive squabbling with the Legislature had become a campaign issue. So the bickerer became a bargainer. Schwarzenegger and the lawmakers produced a series of impressive bills, including a rare on-time budget, and his image began to change from one of a cartoon character to an effective leader.

The Republican governor, of course, couldn’t have done this by himself. Democratic leaders were his eager partners.

Credit the overpowering motivation of self-survival. When the choice for Democratic lawmakers became either to resurrect some semblance of public respect, or prop up their struggling gubernatorial candidate by whacking the incumbent, the decision was easy.

Asked about that just before the Legislature adjourned Thursday, Nunez said that Schwarzenegger was “acting like a Democrat,” so he and Perata opted to capitalize.

The governor, Nunez said, was telling them: “ ‘Hey, I want to do things that Democrats want to get done.’ ”

“So why should we turn our backs on that? He wants to advance the Democratic agenda. We embrace it.”

That’s really rubbing it in for GOP legislators, who watched Schwarzenegger’s leftward movement with frustration.

They enjoyed seats at the bargaining table on major bills that required two-thirds majority votes: the bonds, the budget. But on other biggies that could be passed on simple majority votes -- capping greenhouse gas emissions, boosting the minimum wage, creating a discount prescription drug plan for the uninsured -- Schwarzenegger didn’t need the Republicans and cut them out of negotiations. They sided with the business lobby and futilely voted “no.”

Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine seemed resigned to the facts of political life.

“We still register our objections,” he said. “But everybody realizes the governor is up for reelection and can’t get reelected with Republican votes only. And his base is pretty secure.”

Schwarzenegger couldn’t lose for winning during the legislative session.

Last week, Democrats tried to jam him with a bill paving the way for a state-run universal healthcare system. They knew he’d veto it and hoped the action would highlight his failure to expand affordable healthcare. But nevermind: Angelides couldn’t benefit from the jamming because he doesn’t support the bill either.

Schwarzenegger lost technically but won politically when lawmakers refused to ratify six Indian gambling compacts that represented a major expansion of slot machines in California.

Democrats complained that the compacts -- negotiated between the governor and tribes -- were sent to the Legislature too late for careful scrutiny. And the Democrats were right.

But the bigger problem for Democrats was that the compacts drove a wedge between two of their biggest campaign patrons: the new-rich Indians and organized labor. That’s a no-brainer. The Indians have more money, but labor is the Democratic soul.

Unions insisted the compacts treated them unfairly. So it’s back to the bargaining table for the governor and tribes.

Yet Schwarzenegger won that skirmish. He drove the Democratic-damaging wedge. And he “neutralized” the Indians. They covet the gambling expansion he has agreed to, and it’d be surprising if the tribes spent millions attacking him or promoting Angelides -- or helping many Democrats at all.

As for Perata, his No. 1 policy focus for two years has been to rebuild California’s infrastructure. Getting those bonds on the ballot was a major triumph.

Perata and Nunez had one glaring failure, however: They didn’t keep their promise to place a redistricting reform measure on the ballot. Perata insisted that November’s ballot already is “too crowded.” It is. But the inaction shows that it’ll probably take a citizens’ initiative to make this needed reform a reality.

Nunez scored a boatload of victories: successfully sponsoring the global warming and prescription drug bills, plus measures to give the L.A. mayor some power over schools and clearing the way for phone companies to sell TV services.

He described his relationship with Schwarzenegger as “at an all-time high,” and called the governor “a sincere person.”

Asked whether he thought Schwarzenegger was the right governor for California, the speaker replied: “I’ll leave that up to the voters. I work with this governor very well. We got a lot of things done this year.

“That’s not to say I’m going to campaign for him for governor. I’m going to campaign for Phil Angelides.”

It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement from an Angelides campaign co-chairman. He understands that this governor is on a winning streak and likely to be back for the next legislative session.